Corporate profits belie nation's moral compass

John Lilly and I agree on something. We have lost our moral compass and sense of shame and embarrassment that should follow us as our nation drifts "outside the lines." ("Aid from government costs a moral compass," Feb. 13)

But here is where the agreement ends, for it is not aid from the government that cost us our moral compass.

Where is the moral compass of corporations and employers who keep wages historically low, balk at raising a minimum wage that for tipped workers has not changed since 1991, and deny their human resources sick leave and insurance?

Where is the moral compass that denies basic health care to these minimum-waged employees who, though working 40 hours, can no longer meet their families' expenses because their income, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is worth 25 percent less than when the last minimum was established?

Where is the moral compass of a state legislature that watches rural hospitals close as it refuses to expand Medicaid for these same working poor?

Where is the moral compass when corporate profits have never been higher and taxes paid by them never lower, while CEO salaries are 354 times those of their average worker?

There is shame and embarrassment aplenty for our beloved nation that has lost its way, but none of the reasons for its moral lapses stem from aid given the poorest of our citizens.

It is lovely that Lilly's parents "never dreamed of sending him to school without lunch." Too bad they neglected to send him into the world with a little compassion.

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Corporate profits belie nation's moral compass

John Lilly and I agree on something. We have lost our moral compass and sense of shame and embarrassment that should follow us as our nation drifts 'outside the lines.' ('Aid from government costs a